Answer

"RapidBoot uses a collection of proprietary technologies and optimizations, which vary based on the EE 3 system. Smart defragmentation defragments the area of the hard disk drive that contains the boot files used to load Windows®. Defragmenting increases the speed that the data can be accessed and read. HDD accelerator uses system memory (RAM) as a cache for boot files, which allows faster performance."

In a blog entry on Lenovo Blogs, Lenovo's John Mese explains the differences between the two:

"1) RapidBoot: HDD Accelerator – this creates a compressed cache of files needed at boot. The cache is read into system memory very early during boot and the PC continues to boot out of that cache instead of off the slower rotational drive. This essentially conveys an SSD-like boot experience on HDD systems. It’s an innovative idea that is made possible by shifting the burden from the I/O subsystem to the CPU and memory subsystem (which are traditionally underutilized during boot).

2) RapidBoot: BootShield – this preserves a good boot time as the PC ages, alleviating the impact of additional software installations. This is actually an iterative improvement over last year’s RapidBoot (v1.0) solution. The new version more carefully monitors system resources and dynamically allows for user-initiated tasks to receive immediate priority."

RapidBoot: Boot Shield - has been withrawn because it may cause unexpected problems. Some of these problems may not seem related to the operation of RapidBoot: Boot Shield. Users troubleshooting any start up problems or issues should remove RapidBoot: Boot Shield by following these instructions.